'Hope you are all doing great in the concrete jungle that we've returned back to, after that truly exciting weekend we had in the jungles of Bandaragama! I’m sure we are all looking forward to this new project which we are going to venture into. We've just crossed the border; now let’s go Beyond!'…
…is what Nafisa Asgerally, a core group member from the Beyond Borders Sri Lanka team, had to say, fresh after returning to Colombo from the Life Skills Training Camp in Bandaragama.
The purpose of the two-and-a-half-day camp was to allow the core group members to bond with each other before stepping out as a team. To speed up that process, we took them away from their comfort zone to a setting that required interdependency, in order to survive and also to encourage them to start thinking and working as one cohesive team.
Beyond Borders was launched in the UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India about a year and a half ago and is now about to get underway in Sri Lanka. The networking project focuses on building greater mutual understanding, learning and respect while developing an understanding of ‘Active Global Citizenship’, which is the theme for 2005.
What is unique about the project is that its programme of activities is designed by young people for young people. Our partners, the Rotaract Club of Colombo, have helped find the 25 young people that make up the core group. The group members have since come up with 3 broad themes they would like to address under this project:
- HIV/AIDS awareness
- Patriotism and ethnic understanding.
- Teaching English to underprivileged children
- Working with street children
If you want to know more on the developments of this exciting project, stay tuned to this site for future updates. Please e-mail us if you want to share your views about this project.
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